Friday, August 23, 2013

Review: Chassing Nikki by Lacey Weatherford

Description:Chase Walker used to be a good kid-charming, athletic, and with a bright future ahead, but that was before travesty struck his life, sinking him into deep despair. Caught up in a world of drugs and alcohol, he doesn't notice time slipping away until he's arrested for underage drinking one night. Fed up with watching her son destroy his life, Chase's mom relocates him to live in a small ranching community with his ex-military grandfather. Chase is far from happy about the situation until he meets, Nikki, the cute cheerleader who won't give football players like him the time of day. Chase enjoys a good challenge though and sets out to claim Nikki for his own. He soon discovers she's more than a pretty face-she's a balm to his troubled spirit also. But when tragedy strikes Nikki's life too, suddenly Chase finds himself put to the ultimate test. Can he trust Nikki, and all that she's taught him? Will it be enough?

Review:

Okay so we meet Chase as he's recently turned into quite the problem child
after his father died (on Chase's birthday might I add, tragedy). His
mother doesn't know how to get through to him anymore so she moves him back to
her hometown with her parents hoping this move and structure will help her son
move on. While starting a new school he meets this girl that he just has to
have, but everyone tells him she won't give him the time of day, Nikki.
She seems like a very innocent formal type of person, and I don't know if that
is part of the attraction but she puts me off as a goody goody and the
conversations they have together sound very cliché. For example:

“Well, you’re wrong. I know there’s got to be a God somewhere,
because he sent you to me, right when I needed you most.”

(Kindle Locations 2253-2254)

So he finally breaks down her barriers and worms his way into her heart and
her into his heart and their relationship blossoms from there. But I
don't know what it is but I just can't seem to feel any connection to the
characters at all and this is more than halfway through the book and I still
don't feel anything. The overall story is good; I just haven't connected with
the characters. I think it's their conversation. It doesn't seem to flow
freely but rehearsed. They seem to be
doing well; I can imagine them like being the golden couple in school.They just had their homecoming dance when
tragedy strikes.

The next day as I continued to read the book I started to feel a little
something for Chase, he’s been dealt a bad hand over and over and I feel bad
for him.It’s as if nothing seems to go
his way or the way it should.He’ll have
a little bit of happiness and then bam something goes wrong.So finally I had a connection with him.It’s very sad what happens in the book but
these things make you a stronger person, even if you don’t want to be.It’s crazy how life can seriously be short
and unexpected things can happen, and for that I have to say that you have to
live your life to the fullest.Don’t
waste a single moment with nonsense and just try to be happy.

Overall the book was good, and a quick read with emotion in it towards the
end.This has to be one of my favorite
things about this book though, the lines are perfect and something everyone
should really live by:

So
stop looking at the past and all the things you can’t change. They’re done and
over with. Now is the time for you to look to the future, grasp it by the hand,
and decide where you want to go. I told you once before, and I’ll say it
again—this is your life, Chase. Only you can decide what it’s going to be like.
Don’t let outside forces dictate it for you.